Card-index.



A. c. WIECHER'S.

CARD INDEX. APPLICATION EILED MAR- 26. I908.

1,1475772. a I Patqnted July 27,1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

"WIT/I/ESSES: Er ,7 INVENTOR yziladazlw nnomsrs 1 A. c. WIECHERS.

' CARD JNDEX. APPLICATION HLEDMAR. 26, No e.

Patented July 2?, 1915.

1 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

I TIIEFlU.

l/VVE/VTOR ALBERT 6. V/[CHEFS nrromvsrs ALBERT C. WIECHIERS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

CARD-INDEX.-

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALBERT O. WIECHERS, citizen of the United States, and resident of the borough of Manhattan, city and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Card-Indexes,

of which. the following is a specification.

- My invention relates to so-called card-indexes, that is to devices for containing -a number of information cards in a conveniently accessible way.

The object of my present improvement is to facilitate the picking out of individual cards and the successive separation of adjacent cards from the others. To this end I employ a special card shifter for causing some of the cards to be more readily separated from their neighbors. This card shifter may be constructed m various man- 11ers, and in the accompanying drawings I have illustrated a few typical examples of constructions which may be adopted to carry out my invention.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a top view with parts in section showing one form of my invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a cross section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a cross section showing a second form of my invention. Fig. 5' is apartial side elevation thereof with parts broken away. Fig. 6 is partly a. side elevation and partly a longitudinal section of a third form of my invention. Fig. 7 is a partial horizontal section of the same. Fig. 8 is a sectional view of a fourth form of my invention and Fig. 9 is a side view of the card shifter and Figs. 10,

- 11 and 12 are plan views showing three additional forms of my invention.

In the construction illustrated by Figs. 1, 2 and 3, A represents a card-receptacle (in this particular case a drawer adapted to be set upon a table) at the bottom of which there is a longitudinal opening A at both sides of which rest the cards B (which may be ordinary rectangular cards). I have shown the opening A in a false bottom A which is located above the solid bottom A. The front wall A may have an inclined inner surface so as to keep some of the cards in a forwardly inclined .osition (see Fig. 2), and the rearmost card is preferably engaged by a follower C, arranged to hold the rear cards in a rearwardly-inclined posi- Speciflcatio'n of Letters Patent.

may be rendered steady tion, thus facilitating the division of the cards into two groups. In other words, the

.opposing inner surfacesof the front wall A and of the follower C (forming the rear wall) converge downwardly. The follower is adjustable lengthwise of the receptacle to accommodate a greateror smaller number or cards. For this purpose, the follower may have brackets C projecting through theslot or opening A and provided with flanges C to engage the lower face of the false bottom A Friction will generally be suf-. ficient .to hold the follower after ad ustment.

The cards are adapted to be divided into groups and to be shifted by a special device which engages them between the follower C and the front wall A and which I have termed a card-shifter. In Figs. 1 to 3, this card-shifter consists of a plate D arranged to swing about a pivot. D extending transadapted to engage the slide E. The sli e E is connected by an L shaped bar G with a finger-piece H moving in a longitudinal slot A of the side Wall A. head H on said finger piece in engagement Patented July 27, 11915. Application filed March 26, 1908. Serial No. 423,467., a

I have shown a T with a channeled track A. so that said track may practically support all the movable parts connected with the card shifter D; in this case it is not necessary that the bar or the slide E should have any guiding engagement with the receptacle A. The falsebottom'of the receptacle is of course recessed or rather made thinner at one side to clear the path .of the bar G, and similarly the thickness of the side wall A is reduced at its lower portion.

In operation, assuming the spring F not to \be strong enough toj'force the edge of the shifter between unseparated cards, the user will first separate the cards manually into two groups spaced sufliciently to allow for an entranceof the free edge of the card.- shifter D when such shifter is moved to the properposition. As the shifter D enters the space between the two groups of cards, it will'be swung upward and forward on its pivot D to PIOJGCt its free edge above the bottom of the cards. Upon then moving ,the card-shifter rearward, it will be pressed against the rear group of cards and thus forced into the fully raised position shown than the others, and the cards behind it,-

This causes the upperprogressively less. edges ofthe shifted cards to lie at different levels, and thus renders the fingering of the cards easier. I believe that the best results are obtained when as shown the angle a formed between the card-shifter and the raised cards is an acute angle. By moving the card-shifter D rearward slowly, the

- cards, after having been raised to a posltion in which they may be viewed and fingered more readily, can be dropped one by one as the card-shifter is moved. WVhen it is desired to turn the card-shifter down beneath the cards so that it may be moved freely to any position of the card receptacle without raising or otherwise disturbing the cards, it is moved forward until it engages the cards of the forward group, which causes the plate D to swing downward and rearward on its pivot D, until it lies fiat under the cards; the cards having then been reformed into a single group, the card-shifter may be moved under them to any desired point. Inasmuch as the support for the movable card-shifter is at the head H, that is, ouite close to the finger-piece H, the sliding movement willtake place easily and without any danger of binding.

Ifthe spring F is made .strong enough to raise the cards to a certain extent, it will not be necessary for the user to form a gap for the entrance of the card-shifter, as a.

simple rearward movement of the cardshifter will be sufficient to bring it to an operative position owing to the fact that the free edge of the card-shifter in this case pro ects permanently above the bottom of the cards.

If desired, the card-shifter may be drawn.

could be fastened to the sliding carriage of the card-shifter either as shown in full lines in Fig. 1 or as indicated by dotted lines, to

one end of" which is secured to the drum while the other pull the card-shifter rearward or forward respectively. In the former case, the cardshlfter when in operative position would move rearward automatically upon the removal of cards at the front end of the rear group, and thus relieve the user of the necessity of moving the card-shifter back by hand as cards are removed from contact with the shifter.

It will be obvious that two or more cardshifters may be used as indicated in Fig. 2. These shifters may be independent as shown, or they might be connected rigidly or adjustably. The spring F may be omitted, and the card-shifter started by hand on its way to the operative position.

Instead of having the card-shifter D thrown upward and forward by its spring F, (as in the construction first described), I may, as illustrated by Figs. 4 and 5, construct the card-shifter to swing upward and rearward. With this construction, the cardshifter extends forward from its pivot Din the inoperath'e position, and therefore will shift the cards to the raised position by a simple swinging movement about its pivot,

without requiring the rearward sliding movement which is necessary to raise the cards in the form of my invention shown in Figs. 1 to 3, in ,which the' card-shifter eX- tends rearward from its pivot in the inoperative position. I

A spring F may be employed having a tendency to throw the shifter upward and rearward, and this spring should be strong enough to raise and sustain the cards engaged by the shifter. A handle D may be connected with the card-shifter to swing it on its pivot, either for the purpose of turning the shifter down to a position where it may be freely moved beneath the cards without lifting them, or of raising it to an operative position from beneath the cards, and when this handle is employed, the spring F may be omitted. When the handle is omitted from this particular form of my invention some other means, for instance a catch,

shifter of Figs. 4 and 5 can yield slightly 1 when moved rearward or when the user:

presses downward on the cards resting on it, I

i not only reduces the resistance to the rearward movement of the shifter when in its operative position, but also facilitates the separation of the cards, probably because the slight/up and down movements of the card- I shifter. as the cards are being fingered, tends to free them from each other.

An angular stop D clearly shown in Fig. 5, is formed on the card shifter to limit its shifter of Fig. is turned down to its in0p-- erative position where it may be moved under finger piece, and so placed thatthe usersi fingers can grasp the carriage near the cenfrom below, said carriage mamas rearward swinging movement very much the same as the angular stop D of the form shown in-Fig. 2 serves to limit the forward direction reverse to that in which the card the cards without shifting or lifting them.

While I have shown the finger piece which is grasped by the user to move the cardshifter, located at the side of the card-receptacle, it will be obvious that this may be located differently. I consider it best to have a bearing for the carriage close to the ter of the beari%, asthis avoids binding; still, the head and the track therefor might be omitted provided some other portion' of the carriage had a proper bearing and guidance.

InFigs. 8 and 9 the carriage is grasped having a bearing in a track at the bottom A of-the receptacle. The .carriage is provided bearing member and finger piece D, and

' With a. card-shifter proper D which in this case is not movable relatively to the carriage,

but rigid therewith and has two inclined surfaces, so asto permit it to move forward or backward. The cards B shown in Fig. 8, are .cut out for the passage of a longitudinal retaining rod L, which for instance extends at the center of the receptacle through holes materially larger than the rod, so as to allow sufficient playfor the raising of the cards by the card-shifter. Even a slight play will do for this purpose. In this modification of applicants invention, the shifting member I) cannot be moved endwise of the receptacle without shifting or elevating all the cards in ,succession, whereas in some of the other modifications if it is desired to move the shifter from one end of the box to the other, without raising the intermediate cards, until the shifter is brought underneath the particular group to be examined, the shifter may be turned down out of operative position. In order, therefore, that the shifter D may be, moved quickly in either direction, it' may be designed toisupport or elevate a less number of cards than the shifters shown in the other modifications. While this may require a morefrequent manipulation of the shifter D it-neverthel'ess has certain advantages of simplification and low cost of construction to recommend its use. Obviously a retainmit its free movement. Other well-known with a combinedv -sion).

forms of retaining bars may also be used, it only being necessary, as already pointed out, to provide a suitable hole or slot in each card so that the retaining means may not interfere with the free movement of the cards by the shifting-member. The construction shown in Figs. 8 and 9 might be modified by placing the carriage at the center of the bottom. The hereinbefore described arrangement of the bearing at the side of the card receptacle may-also be used in connection. with a card-shifter located at the side of the bottom. The constructions in which the carriage is operated from the bottom, are to. be used with arrangements for so supporting the receptacle as to render its bottom accessible; such arrangements are well known in the art. I

In Figs. 1 and 2 I have indicated what might be termed a device for feeding the carriage rearward. Of course, the carriage might be moved lengthwise in many other ways, as for instance by means of a pinion N journaled transversely on the carriage and engaging a stationary rack Ni onthe receptacle (see Fig. 10); or a screw rod 0 might be journaled lengthwise on the receptacle, to engage a suitable portion 0 on the carriage (see Fig. 11), either permanently or at the users option. The card-. shifter 05 might be arranged on the side of the receptacle (seeFig. 12), to engage the sides of the cards and'shift them laterally instead of upward, the cards in this case. being fingered at the side.

In F igs. 6 and 7 I have dispensed with the movement of the card-shifter lengthwise of the receptacle, and in order to be able to raise any section of the cards, .I have employed a plurality of card-shifters at dif-'.

ferent points of the receptacles length. The

particular construction shown comprises a series of contiguous card-shifters D each pivoted about a.horizontal axis, D at its rear edge, with a spring F tending tothrow down until released. The-latch may form pivot rod D but held to turn therewith. The latch may engage either one of two openings A in the receptacle A,'one end of the'spring F being secured to the sleeve, and the other to the receptacle, so that the spring has the double function of throwing the shifter up (by torsion) and of moying the sleeve and-catch inward (by expan' it up, and a latch M to keep the card-shifter It is obvious that insteadof moving the card shifter. from thefront to the rear of the card receptacle for the purpose of shifting the cards, the same object might be attained by moving it in the reverse direction provided the card shifting surface when in' operative position is likewise turned in the reverse direction; that is so as to lean to to engage and move an intermediate groupward the rear of the receptacle instead of toward the front.

. While have illustrated my invention in connection with a 'card receptacle I do not wish to be understood as limiting itto such a use, as it may be employed to advantage in any style of receptacle adapted to contain articles of substantially the same size and form, which have to be handled frequently. As examples of such articles the following might be mentioned: Lantern slides, filing envelops, folders, correspondence, small pamphlets, paper money, etc.

lVhen the terms card receptacle and card shifter are used in the claims they are not to be construed in the sense of a limitation but simply as descriptive of means for containing and shifting articles which may be handled as are the cards illustrated in'the attached drawings.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination with a card-receptacle, of a shifter considerably shorter than the receptacle said shifter extending transversely of the receptacle and being adapted of adjacent cards while leaving the 'remainder .ofthe cards unaffected.

2. The combination with a card-recep tacle, of a movable shifter having an oblique face to engage and move an intermediate group of adjacent cards to a graduated extent while leaving the remainder of the cards unaffected. I

3. 'The combination with a card-receptacle, of a movable shifter which in its operative position engages an intermediate group of adjacent cards withits oblique surface and moves them to a graduated extent while leaving the remainder of the cards unaffected.

4. The combination with a card-receptacle, of a vertically movable card-shifting support extending transversely across a relati vely small portion of said receptacle, and

adapted to engage and project an intermediate group of adjacent cards.

5. The combination with .a card-receptacle, of a card-shifter having an oblique surface extending transversely across a relatively small portion of the receptacle, and adapted to engage and project an intermediate group of adjacent cards.

6'. The combination with a card-receptacle, of a card-shifter movable across the edges of the cards and having an oblique card-engaging surface to shift the cards successively as the shifter reaches difierent positions endwise of the receptacle.

7. The combination with acard-receptacle having a normal supporting surface, of an auxiliary card-shifting support being adapted to pass under the cards and having a card-engaging surface inclined lengthwise of the receptacle relatively to said normal supporting surface, whereby it may pro ject any desired intermediate group of ad.- jacent cards.

8. The combination with the card-receptacle, of a card-shifting support movable lengthwise thereof relative to the edges of the cards and adapted to raise and drop the cards successively as it travels lengthwise of the receptacle.

9. Thecombination with a card-receptacle, ofa card-shifter pivoted about an axis extending transversely of the receptacle, said receptacle, and a card-shifter pivoted to said slide .adapted to project any intermediate group of adjacent cards.

12. The combination with a card-receptacle, of a card-shifter movable lengthwise of the receptacle and capable of being moved past the edges of the cards without projecting them.

13. The combination with a card-receptacle, of a card-shifter" movable lengthwise of the receptacle and capable of being moved past the cards, said card-shifter having an oblique surface to engage and project any intermediate group of cards.

14. The combination with a card-receptacle, of a card-shifter pivoted about an axis extending transversely of the receptacle, said card-shifter being considerably shorter than the receptacle so as to only engage a comparatively small intermediate group of adjacent cards, and means for bringing the shifter to its lifted position.

15. The combination with a card-receptacle provided with a longitudinal guide or track, of a slide movable on said track and adapted to be grasped by the user adjacent to the track, and a card-shifter connected with said slide and adapted to engage and move a number of adjacent cards while leaving the others unaffected.

16. The combination with a c'ard-receptacle of a carriage movable lengthwise of said receptacle and a card-shifter pivoted to said carriage, about a transverse axis and having a stop to limit the forward swingin of the shifter.

17 The combination with a card-receptacle of a carriage movable lengthwise of said'receptacle and a card-shifter pivoted to said carriage about a transverse axis and having a stop to-limit the rearward swinging of the shifter.

18. The combination witha cafd-recep: tacle of a card-shifter movable lengthwise of the receptacle, and rotary mechanism for causing said eard-shifter-to travel lengthwise of the receptacle.

. cards in one position, of means for shifting an intermediate group of adjacent cards ,to a position Where the plane formed by the top or side edges of the cards engaged by j the card shifting means is at an angle to the plane formed by the top or side edges of the group of cards next adjacent those engaged by said card shifting means.

21. In a card receptacle, the combination 3 with a means for supporting the bulk of the cards in one position, of means for shifting an intermediate group of adjacent cards to a position where the plane formed by the top v or side edges of the cards engaged by the card shifting means is at an angle to the plane formed by the top or side edges of the group of cards next adjacent those engaged by said card shifting means, and means for changing the position of said card shifting means. i

22. In a card receptacle, the combination with a means for supporting the bulk of the cards in one position, of means for shifting an intermediate group of adjacent cards to a position where the plane formed by the top or side edges of the cards engaged by the card shifting means is at an angle to the plane formed by the top or side edges of the group of cards next adjacent those engaged by said card shifting means, and a support for said card shifting means adaptedto move lengthwise of said card receptacle.

23. In a card receptacle, the combination with a meansfor supporting the bulk of the cards in one position, of means for shifting a number of the adjacent cards to a position where the plane formed by the top or side edges of the cards engaged by the card shifting means is at an angle tothe plane formed by the top or side edges of the group of cards next adjacent those-engaged by said card shifting means, and a support for said card shifting means having a guide engaging member, a guide in which said member is adapted to slide located at one side of the card receptacle, and a finger piece on said support adjacent said guide whereby said support may be grasped at a point near said guide and moved lengthwise of said' card receptacle 1: lther in operative engagement or out of engagement with said cards without becoming jammed in said guide.

24. 'In a card receptacle, the combination with a means for supporting the bulk of the cards in one position, of means for shifting a number of the adjacent cards to a position where the plane formed by the top or side edges of the cards engaged by the card shifting means is at an angle to the plane formed by the top or side edges of the group of cards next adjacent those engaged by said card shifting means, and means for bringing said card shifting means in operative engagement with a portion of the whole number of cards contained in said receptacle.

25. In a card receptacle, the combination with a means for supporting the bulk of the cards in one position, of means for shifting 80 card shifting means in operative engage ment with a portion of the whole number of cards contained in said receptacle, and means for restoring said card shifting means to a position Where it may freely be moved lengthwise of said receptacle in either direction without efi'ecting a change in the position of any of said cards.

26. In acard receptacle, the combination with a means for supporting the bulk of the cards in one position, of means for shifting a number of the adjacent cards to a position where the plane formed by the top or side edgs of the cards engaged by the card shifting means is at an angle to the plane formed by the top or side edges of the group of cards next adjacent those engaged by said card shifting means, means for bringing said card shifting means in operative engagement with a portion ofthe whole number of cards contained in said receptacle, and means for restoring said card shifting means to a position where it may freely be moved lengthwise of said receptacle in one direction in operative engagement with one edge of the cards and in the reverse direction without efi'ecting a change in the position of any of them.

27. In a card receptacle, the combination with a means for supporting the bulk of the cards in one position, of means for shifting a number of the adjacent cards to a position where the plane formed by the top or side edges of the cards engaged by the card shifting means is at an angle to the plane formed by the top or side edges of the group of cards next adjacent those en'- gaged by said card shifting means, and means for advancing said card shifting means in operative engagement with the with normal supporting surfaces for maintaining the cards in substantially parallelrelation with each other, of a card-shifting member, the operative position of which is at an angle to one of the normal supporting surfaces so as to project to a graduated ex tent the adjacent cards in a relatively small intermediate group of cards beyond the edges of the cards immediately in front of said intermediate group.

29. In a card-receptacle, the combination with normal supporting surfaces for maintaining the cards in substantially parallel relation with each other, of a card-shifting member, the operative position of which is operative engagement with any desiredgroup of cards.

'30. In a card-receptacle, the combination with normal sup orting surfaces for maintaining the cards in substantially parallel relation witheaeh other, of a card-shifter movable endwise of said receptacle and adapted to project to a graduated extent a group of adjacent cards, the cards included in the group so projected varying with the endwise' position of said card-shifter.

31, In a card-receptacle, the combination with means for supporting the bulk of the cards, of means for shifting an intermediate group of adjacent cards to a position where the plane formed by their edges is out of alinement with the plane formed by the edges of the cards on opposite sides of the v group engaged by said card-shifting means.

32. In a card-receptacle, the combination with supporting surfaces for normally main-- taining the cards in substantially parallel re lation with each other, of a card-shifter capable of projecting to a graduated extent the adjacent cards in a comparativelly small intermediate group beyond the cards immediately preceding them.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 29th day of March, 1908.

ALBERT C. WIECHERS.

\Vitnesses CLINTON B. BUR E, LEROY HOOPER. 

